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Geek Culture / Women Drivers are better than men, fact or fiction?

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Giles Papworth
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 17:53 Edited at: 1st Aug 2005 23:42
(This is not meant to be offensive in any way; I am just voicing an opinion)

Well statistics say that women are better drivers. I think this is because they have less accidents but this doesn't mean they are good drivers. Take what happened to me the other day. Driving along really quite happily, then a women driver drove straight out from a junction (without stopping to look if anyone was there) and almost t-boned my car.

Yesterday, coming out of Morrison’s car park, there is a lane to go left and a lane to go right. I am going right so naturally I go into the lane that says to go right. A women pulls up beside me in the lane to go left, then as I pull off, so does this women driver and she goes.........yep you guessed it RIGHT almost taking the front of my car off. Now these are only two incidents but how many more are there????

Fact or fiction? My view is that women are better drivers than men.....FICTION

Its not a bug, Its a feature

If we were meant to stay in this reality games would not exist!
OSX Using Happy Dude
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 18:14
I too think its fiction...

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Lost in Thought
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 18:14
I think on overall average it is pretty even. Though I know way more women drivers that are dangerous than men. I think this may be due to the fact that I know way more women than men.

Flashing Blade
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 18:30 Edited at: 26th Jul 2005 00:00
don't know about driving but reverse parking isn't there strong point

*EDIT*
Apart from Nicholas Thomsons mum - she's ubber super cool at parking.


The word "Gullible" cannot be found in any English Dictionary.
Giles Papworth
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 18:43
i'm glad i am not alone in this!

Its not a bug, Its a feature

If we were meant to stay in this reality games would not exist!
Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 19:47
@Flashing Blade: Mate - thats bollocks. My mum can reverse park our cars (Rover 25 and a Rover 600) better than anyone else I know. First time, in a space marginally larger than the car itself.
Contrastingly, I know a LOT of people who cant park a car at all.

The factor in THAT situation is the drivers situation. For exameple, if the driver is blessed with off road parking then they never learn or practice reverse parking. Where I live, if you cant reverse park - you cant park! You may as well walk home from wherever you're coming home from!

As for women drivers being better than men or vice versa - again, depends on the driver. I too have nearly been killed by women drivers too obsessed by how pretty they look in the mirror or just generally kareok-ing along to Abba, but along side that I've also nearly been killed by old men who dont know the highway code anymore, young blokes with their "baseball cap of invincibility" on and just other drivers on the road.
There are a few things that get on my man-titties..:
1) People who dont signal. FFS PEOPLE!! The indicator arm is next to your left hand. Stick out your index finger and, oh look!! THERE IS IS!! It even turns itself off for you nowadays.. There is litterally 0% excuse!
2) People who driver at 60mph in the middle lane (I refer to them as twats). They think 3 lane motorways are 50,60 and 70mph respectively and thus they happily sit in the middle lane doing 60 when there is nobody in front of them for 100,000,000 miles. I used to just get slightly annoyed and change from the left lane to the right lane and then back again - but now I just drop 2 gears and wang it up the left lane past them to make a point. My mate did a better one, he went up along the left of this bloke who was in the right lane of a 2 lane A road doing 60mph for no reason (it was 1am). He clearly should have been in the left lane. So he went up along side him on the left, but did NOT undertake him (like I would have). Instead he stayed there for about 10 miles. The bloke starts signalling left because his junction was the next one. My mate did not move. The result - twat on the road misses his junction and ends up missing his Braintree exit and gets half way to Colchester

What I would say is that generally speaking, women are overcautious drivers and thus often end up with a long queue of cars behind them. Contrastingly, men are over-confident and end up queueing up behind women drivers. The result is the woman might do something unpredictable and because the bloke is driving too fast you end up with an accident that is caused by both parties, but often ends up with the woman driver driving off and the man left in carnage behind Hehehe...

The thing I like less than over-cautious drivers (which ironically are more dangerous than they think) are stupid children that dont look when they cross the road or ones that become obsessed with retrieving thir ball they just threw into the busy dual carriage way!

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Drew Cameron
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 19:58
Both men and women can be good or bad drivers, neither are better.


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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 20:10
Techincally, men are meant to have better spacial awareness and therefore meant to be better... Shame the cockiness of men often negates this advantage

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Arkheii
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 20:44
Severe accidents are caused by men though. But this is generally because:

- they're drunk
- they're sleepy (happens to a lot of taxi drivers)
- they're showing off

But meh. I'm still not gonna let a woman drive a school bus.
BatVink
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 20:54
1. Men have better spacial awareness, fact.

2. Men are more easily distracted, particularly by a "good lookin' chick" walking by. Not fact, but close to the truth!


I did see a woman driver trying to apply her lipstick in the mirror the other day. When she got too close to me, I almost dropped my phone in my coffee, if it had spilt on my shaver it could have ruined it.



BatVink
Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 21:21
@arkheii:
Quote: "
- they're drunk
- they're sleepy (happens to a lot of taxi drivers)
- they're showing off
"


So none of those happen to women? Wow I have a lot to learn.. I thought they got drunk easier than blokes (less body fat to absorb, generally), they get sleepy something (due to loss of iron in their blood) and believe me - girls love nothing more than to show off Just drive by a club and study the contents (or lack there-of) of of the queue!

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Class I Coder
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Posted: 25th Jul 2005 23:39
Two years ago a study was published based on data from car insurers. It showed that when women had a car crash, it was at a much slower speed than the average crash caused by a man. However, the womens car crash cost a lot more to repair than the mens car crashes. Women, though more cautious are not as in control as men. That was the conclusion drawn.
Flashing Blade
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 00:02
Quote: "@Flashing Blade: Mate - thats bollocks. My mum can reverse park our cars (Rover 25 and a Rover 600) better than anyone else I know."


Nick, I edited my post for you


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Giles Papworth
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 00:43
I only base this theory on my own personal experiences!

Even more to add to my argument, my Fiance is so nervous around sharp corners that just before she goes round them, she closes her eyes! I have not got any intention of getting the the same car as her when she is driving!

Its not a bug, Its a feature

If we were meant to stay in this reality games would not exist!
Briere
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 01:06
Well it is just an opinion, so it cannot be fact. =)

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 01:47
@Flashing Blade: LMAO! Thank you - thats much better

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Grog Grueslayer
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 06:54
I once asked my Drivers ED Teacher in high school what he thought about women drivers. All he said was: "They love to go fast."

Could it be the desire to go fast may be linked to horrible driving?
Keaz
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 07:05 Edited at: 26th Jul 2005 07:07
Actually men tend to drive faster. Faster driving means less reaction time. Men tend to have faster reflexes, but not enough to compensate for the faster driving. So, men are better drivers at a given speed, but drive at rediculous speeds so in the end women cause few accidents(excluding where a guy was just looking at a woman and not paying attention). In the end it that fact that women cause fewer accidents that gets them lower car insurance. If obeying speed laws better and geting in fewer accidents makes you better then yes women are better drivers. If getting into fewer accidents at a given speed and better vehicular control(because of spacial awareness and reflexes) makes you a better driver then men are better. The facts can be argued either way.

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 09:02
my uncle saw a bad accident recently, A bloke was driving a 4x4 BMW (dont get me started on [expletive]'s that drive 4x4's in towns.. they're all scum, unless the own a farm or a carravan or generally have a good/appropriate use for it). He was doing about 60 down this dual carriage way which is meant to be 30 or 40 at most (30 legally, 40 sensibly). Anyway, a woman was clearly not looking at what she wasdoing and pulled out. He smashed into her, driver side, and pushed her about 50 meters down the road until he crushed her car into a wall. Now what concerns me is why he didn't brake at all, there were no skid marks (or even little, ABS-assisted ones).. In fact, to push a car that far and do the damage he did to her car - he must have accelerated!! He then proceeded to get out and start shouting at her for pulling out while she is lying there dying in the car. I'm not sure what the end result was - but I think she lost her life. And the last thing she heard was some ignorant twat shouting at her. That bloke deserves to lose his license and freedom for that!

I personally believe people who drive 4x4's in the city deserve to lose their license anyway. They're saying 1 clear thing - they cant drive and they know it. They make up other excuses like "oh I have to take losts of stuff" or "its a better driving position and view"... Crap - all of it is crap. People carriers are designed to carry more people than a 4x4. A Van is designed to carry more luggage than a 4x4. As for driving position and view - thats lovely.. FOR YOU.. Shame the 12 cars behind you cant see anything past you though.
There is litterally 1 reason for havign a 4x4 in a built up area if you dont own a caravan and that is you KNOW you're a bad driver and that you're GOING to have an accident and all you wanna do is make sure YOU win. You dont CARE about anyone else - they can die, but you'll be ok! Hell, thats all that matters.. We can kill good drivers, but we must preserve the bad ones.. Lets protect them by selling tanks under a different name and then lets offer them cheap insurance!! Hehehe..

Seriously though - can someone explain to me if I am wrong with that rant? What sufficient reason can one have for driving one?

PS, Oh yeah = they handle like bricks on ice, they roll like.. something that rolls a lot... And they drink fuel like an alcoholic drinks Whisky!!

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Jimmy
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 09:52 Edited at: 26th Jul 2005 09:53
Quote: " (This is not meant to be offensive in any way; I am just voicing an opinion)

Well statistics say that women are better drivers. I think this is because they have less accidents but this doesn't mean they are good drivers. Take what happened to me the other day. Driving along really quite happily, then a women driver drove straight out from a junction (without stopping to look if anyone was there) and almost t-boned my car.

Yesterday, coming out of Morrison’s car park, there is a lane to go left and a lane to go right. I am going right so naturally I go into the lane that says to go right. A women pulls up beside me in the lane to go right, then as I pull off, so does this women driver and she goes.........yep you guessed it RIGHT almost taking the front of my car off. Now these are only two incidents but how many more are there????

Fact or fiction? My view is that women are better drivers than men.....FICTION
"


This is a pretty funny post if you think of the word 'driver' in terms of golf.

EDIT: In fact, this whole thread is.

Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 10:10
LMAROFL!!!! SO TRUE!! hehe

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Rob K
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 10:23
I passed my driving test only a week ago, and the first thing my examiner did was to hand me a 'new drivers' book from the DSA.

That would be fine - except the first thing to drop out of it when I picked it up was a bundle of adverts for cheaper car insurance for women only (Diamond insurance). I felt that it was just a little insensitive


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Giles Papworth
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 17:41
Quote: "He was doing about 60 down this dual carriage way which is meant to be 30 or 40 at most (30 legally, 40 sensibly)"


Only if stated a 30, the law states that moterway and dual carriage way speed limits are 70 miles an hour, but if it is just out of town or in town it is probably about 30.

Quote: "In the end it that fact that women cause fewer accidents that gets them lower car insurance."


However, one of my dad's friend, their daughter has been in 10 accidents which she has not directly caused. What 'not directly caused' means is that she probably did something wrong in the road which ended up in being an accident that wasn't her fault? Anyway, she still gets cheap car unsurance, because she is female. WTF? If you ask me, anyone who has been in 10 accidents MUST have helped cause at least one!

Quote: "This is a pretty funny post if you think of the word 'driver' in terms of golf.

EDIT: In fact, this whole thread is.
"


I was hoping to bring a little comedy to the day. Hope everyone enjoys reading it

Its not a bug, Its a feature

If we were meant to stay in this reality games would not exist!
Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 18:04
Thats something my dad believes - that womean dont HAVE accidents, they CAUSE them.. Like they change lane without signalling causing someone behind to swerve or brake hard cauing a pileup behind her while she merrily carries on her way to the shops

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Ginga123
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 23:09
yeh that diamond thing makes everyone think women are better than men but i saw a programme that made loads of men and women do their tests again and stuff like that and men won

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 26th Jul 2005 23:31
I think this thread proves 1 thing - men are not better than women and women are not better than men.. However crap drivers DO exist but its not gender specific. I nearly got rammed off the road last night by a wandering old git who drifts across lanes without signalling!!! I dont think he is bad because he is old - he is just bad!

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JoelJ
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Posted: 27th Jul 2005 01:57
"Women Drivers are better than men, fact or fiction?"
you are confused. As far as I'm conserned, they say men drivers are more AGRESSIVE. More road rage, cutting other off, etc. They never said men are more ditzy than women. This is why men pay more than women.

Jimmy wannabe
Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 27th Jul 2005 02:20
@Joel - that is a stereotype/generalisation. Out of all my male friends, none have had an accident. Out of all my female friends, 1 has wrapped her car around a lamp post and another took 12 attempts to pass her test (1 was aborted due to hazardous driving about 5 seconds into the test!). The ratio of my friends is prbably about 80% male, 20% female... Those stats to me say women are more dangerous - but I know thats not true.

Its all dependant on the individual driver - not the gender! I've met agressive women and male drivers. I've met male and females who cant park...

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Lavitz
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Posted: 27th Jul 2005 13:02
Fiction, conseriding that it takes women 20 more seconds to parallel park than men take. I am not here to insult one sex or the other, just pointing out what I've seen my entire life.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 27th Jul 2005 14:37
Quote: "The ratio of my friends is prbably about 80% male, 20% female... Those stats to me say women are more dangerous"

Or they just don't like.

Quote: "this is because they have less accidents"


I don't know where you're from, but around here that's wrong. Statistics showed more women had accidents, but more men got speeding tickets. I may have more speeding tickets that probably anyone else here, but my car has been hit while parked 4 different times. The last 2 more recent were women talking on cell phones and not looking in front of them. (I was stopped at a red light for minutes) The guy that hit me, left a note on my car in the parking lot. Scratched the brand new bumper I just got from the lady who totalled her Focus in my butt.


Honestly, the scariest thing on the road is a little 5' lady driving a Yukon on the freeway. My teacher said the same thing last week actually. Women can drive, but apparently their attention span is much less, as I believe the majority of their accidents are from lack of attention. (or dancing, dont ask, its a girl in my class)
But i'd blame most of the guys' accidents on them just doing something stupid. Like teens trying to do dump stunts in their Hondas that they can't do.


Men have traditionally paid more because there were more of them to cause accidents. The ratio of men with licenses compared to women with licenses was very different. Though in the past 20 years or so, the numbers keep getting closer and the insurances rates get more even. Though men still pay more, and I think that should be illegal. If women want the same rights as men, they should pay the same as we do. I don't think that's asking for too much.

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Jeku
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Posted: 28th Jul 2005 05:47
Quote: "I personally believe people who drive 4x4's in the city deserve to lose their license anyway. They're saying 1 clear thing - they cant drive and they know it. They make up other excuses like "oh I have to take losts of stuff" or "its a better driving position and view"... Crap - all of it is crap."


I hate to be on the other side of the fence here, but that is crap. Who are you to say what I should be able to drive or not? If a guy wants to be macho and drive a Hummer, then so be it. You have a problem with people who feel safe in a 4x4?

If you can't see above the car ahead of you, then feel free to buy a semi or a bus, or whatever it takes and replace that little mini/smart car/rabbit/etc. you're driving and would prefer us all to drive.

You can't judge all the 4x4ers because a jerk slammed into a car and didn't brake, and was an arrogant twat.


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Giles Papworth
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Posted: 28th Jul 2005 18:21
I think people who drive big 4 x 4 without good reason (ie they live on a farm) are wasting money but it is their money to waste. Yes they are more dangorus but thats because the are bigger, heavier....(do i need to go on?)

At the end of the day a bad driver is a bad driver, it doesn't matter what vehicle you stick them in.

Its not a bug, Its a feature

If we were meant to stay in this reality games would not exist!
Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 28th Jul 2005 19:51
@Jeku: I dont judge all users based on 1 - thats just plain silly. However I judge the majority on the majority I see. As a general rule, in the area I live, I see 1 person in a 4-5litre car, often driving dangerously. Very rarely do I see one parked properly. They're usually at an angle or half way out in the road. I've lost count of how many times I've had one pull out in front of me on the motorway while I've overtaking. Obviously, there are GOOD drivers that can handle them.. I have nothing against them.

My problem, and I do stick by this, is that people know they're going to have an accident and they wanna win. You can feel safe in a LOT of cars, for example a smart car. I feel safe in that for a number of reason. It has a LOT of safety features, its so small and light that not only will you stop in half the time it takes a Landrover, but you might even be able to avoid whatever it was anyway!

I also wouldn't prefer everyone to drive the same car - that is a little ridiculous to even assume. For a family of 4/5/6 it would be sensible/essential to have a large car with that kind of capacity (like a People carrier, or dare I say it, a 4x4). However when you see 1 mother driving her only child to school 5 mins down the road - do you not think a more sensible/efficient/cheaper/easier to drive option would be a smaller car like a new Mini, Rover 25, VW Golf, Honda TypeR, Ford Focus, etc? If anything - these cars do better mileage and therefore is better for the environment, so even if they dont crash into you, they're doing you another favour by saving your lungs Hehe

My problem is with two sets of people here:
1) Bad drivers
2) People who drive innapropriate cars

Can you understand why I get annoyed when someone in set 1 signs up for set 2 as well?

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Jeku
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 02:34
Sorry but your argument doesn't make sense. Not trying to be harsh.

Quote: "My problem, and I do stick by this, is that people know they're going to have an accident and they wanna win."


So? Would you rather die?

Quote: "However when you see 1 mother driving her only child to school 5 mins down the road - do you not think a more sensible/efficient/cheaper/easier to drive option would be a smaller car like a new Mini, Rover 25, VW Golf, Honda TypeR, Ford Focus, etc?"


What is it to YOU if she buys a huge car? Other than environmental issues, there is NOTHING wrong with that situation. You keep mentioning accidents as if driving a 4x4 makes you more accident prone.

Do you drive? A 4x4 is SAFER in wet conditions (rain, snow, ice).

Quote: "My problem is with two sets of people here:
1) Bad drivers
2) People who drive innapropriate cars"


I can't argue with your first point But who are you to judge what's inapropriate? That's what I'm saying.


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Rob K
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 04:37
Quote: "Though men still pay more, and I think that should be illegal. If women want the same rights as men, they should pay the same as we do. I don't think that's asking for too much."


I disagree. Insurance companies offer lower discounts to women because they feel that female drivers are less of a risk to insure. It would not be in the insurance companies' interests to offer lower rates to women unless they were, on average, safer.
Unfortunately I fall into the worst possible catagory regarding insurance, but I don't blame the insurance companies - they lose the most money on drivers in my catagory, and they make the most money on middle age females.


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Phaelax
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 06:57
I pay a lot in insurance, with no accidents on my record. And then, when a deer hit the side of my car on the freeway, my car was declared a total loss. I spent about $16k on the car before tax and everything only a year ago. I got less than $8k from my company. Some bs excuse about the car having too high miles. They deducted $900 because I averaged 20k miles that year. I got no reimbursement for the brand new tires I just put on the car that month. I'll pay more insurance, fine, whatever, but they better pay up when the time comes.

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Merranvo
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 07:30 Edited at: 29th Jul 2005 07:33
Insurance is a scam. The whole idea was for you to have money when you need it, but what is the point of paying insurance if your going to end up paying crash costs + extra?

Even then. I TOTALY dissagree with the stereotypes that insurance use to run their companies. They don't care about your record, they care about your gender, race, age, car type, atire, ethnicity. (okay, exageration) But they just average people up and plug them into their "Modern Driver" equation. It isn't right.

I have never been in an accident and according to their "statistics", I should have been in 3 accidents already because I'm a minor. I'm male so I should have been racing other people and getting speeding tickets. I've been driving 2 years and my bill STILL totals out more then my sisters, who has just started driving. Is it really fair?

Statistics are a Lie you can never have stats fit a person exactly, unless those stats are specific to a single individual. Tell these companies to learn that, and give "a little" and mabey we will have some fair buisness tactics instead of prejudstice ones.
[href]
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22How+to+Lie+with+Statistics%22[/href]

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 13:14
Quote: "Do you drive? A 4x4 is SAFER in wet conditions (rain, snow, ice). "


I do drive - I have been for 5 years now. I'm sorry - do what now?! How is a 4x4 safer? It weighs more! Simple physics say that if you double the weight you double the stopping distance. Obviously its not going to be quite double because they've put tractor sized tyres on these things.

I did a little research (ie: work avoidance)...

This is what I found (its probably wrong, but it makes my point )
Quote: "
stats:
Pontiac Grand Am SE = 1490kg
Ford Expedition = 2580kg

Both have ABS, although the Pontiac has drums on the rear

Stopping on dry with no payload from 100kph (62mph)

On P84, the Grandam (lighter) has an average stopping distance of ~148 whereas the Expedition has ~170
"


Now obviously every car is different - but do you honestly believe that a larger car is safer than a smaller one? I agree entirely that in the EVENT of an accident, yeah I would rather be in a larger & bulkier car... In fact, in the EVENT on an accident I'd rather be in a 100ft cube of padding! However, smaller and lighter cars are more likely to AVOID the accident in the first place, judgin by the above stats (I think they must be feet as its an american study) the heavier car took another 22 feet! Thats.. what.. 7 meters? about 2-3 car lengths more?

There are two sides to that problem. I do agree that IF you're in an accident then a Land Rover would be the preferable choice in terms of survival. However, if the other person was a considerate person to the environment and all the other reasons I've already stated and you chose to be the one who thought "screw the world - I wanna live" then you'd have to live with the FACT on your conscience that had you been in a smaller car the other person would stand a much greater chance of survival!

I also haven't even mentioned stupid children that chose to walk in front of cars Normal car (eg Mondeo, Rover 600/75, VW Golf) the bonnet is designed so much smaller so that in the event of an imapct, the legs gets, or at least a lower part of the body - compared to a land rover sized car where your torso gets hit! Obviously, at anything more than 40 (or maybe 3) the person is going to die anyway (generally).. But i'm guessing the survival rate from accidents between 4x4's and children compared to VW Golfs and children is very different!

As for the stereotypes - I HATE being put in the same "box" as these 18 year olds with their "baseball cap of invincibility". To be honest, the way I'd prefer my insurance to work is that any accidents I have with someone else (as long as its not writing off a ÂŁ500,000 car) I'd rather pay for myself. Insurance should be there fore expensive accidents only and also for when you get sued. When you make a claim - yeah sure you'll get the ÂŁ100 to fix the car, but when your insurance gets renewed you'll pay ÂŁ200 more the next year! :-(

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Rob K
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 14:12
Quote: "They don't care about your record"


Of course they do - that is what the No Claims Bonus is about!


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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 18:06
The no claims bonus is so easy to lose because of that record

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Jeku
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 22:17
Quote: "How is a 4x4 safer?"


Do you know what 4x4 means? All four tires spin and brake--- WAY safer than those crappy rear wheel drivers.

There's a reason why people take 4x4s out into the bush. The traction and control is better. Stopping on a dime isn't the ONLY thing you can say makes a car safe. I've driven my fair share of crappy economy sized cars that have crappy brakes.


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the_winch
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 22:58
Quote: "Do you know what 4x4 means? All four tires spin and brake--- WAY safer than those crappy rear wheel drivers."


It's not 1980 anymore. New rear wheel drive cars are rare nowadays and how many cars don't brake all four wheels?

Quote: "There's a reason why people take 4x4s out into the bush. The traction and control is better."


So they drive 4x4s with loats of ground clearance and big tyres off road, what does that have to do with saftey on the road?

On the road a standard car can brake, accelerate and change direction quicker than a 4x4.
Louiz ofRohr
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Posted: 29th Jul 2005 23:23
Quote: "Both men and women can be good or bad drivers, neither are better."


You're right..

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Teh Go0rfmeister
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Posted: 1st Aug 2005 20:02
fiction. if women drove around as much as men they'd cause far more accedents. even though women have more working rights etc, for many women the most driving they do is driving kids to school and back.
Merranvo
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Posted: 1st Aug 2005 21:03
There are women race car drivers, that has to count for something.

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 1st Aug 2005 23:23 Edited at: 1st Aug 2005 23:23
There aren't many - mainly due to male dominance in the sport.. Although there is a woman doing quite well in the BTCC driving a Bio Ethanol powered touring car!

@Jeku: I'm fully aware of what a 4x4 is and how it works. I'm also fully aware that a normal car, even "crappy economy sized" cars (in the UK at least) brake with all 4 wheels and normally now come with at least ABS as standard and often EBD too.

You also kinda made my point, 4x4's are absolutely superb for driving OFFROAD. However, driving down a narrow side street next to a school thats letting out 500 5-12 year olds that are desperate to get home.. Its kinda dangerous..

Jeku - can you answer me this (not meant in a rude way, a genuine question).. Would you rather be hit by a 4x4 doing 30 or a "economy car" (like a Rover 600, Ford Modeo, BMW 3xx, etc) doing 30? I'm not answering for you - but I'd chose the "normal car" any day! 4x4's kill people and cause accidents.. Simple! They also save lives, but often only the lives of the people who caused the accident

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David T
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Posted: 1st Aug 2005 23:44
Quote: "What is it to YOU if she buys a huge car?"


In Canada you've got tons of space (I know - our hire car was huuuuuge ) - but in the UK all these people picking children up in 4x4s do cause traffic jams and look ridicuous. I used to see it every day.

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Giles Papworth
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Posted: 1st Aug 2005 23:44
Oh just edited something, in my first post i wrote:

Quote: "I am going right so naturally I go into the lane that says to go right. A women pulls up beside me in the lane to go right, "


it was meant to be

Quote: "I am going right so naturally I go into the lane that says to go right. A women pulls up beside me in the lane to go left, "


Just thought i would clear that up now

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Jeku
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Posted: 2nd Aug 2005 05:47 Edited at: 2nd Aug 2005 05:48
Quote: "However, driving down a narrow side street next to a school thats letting out 500 5-12 year olds that are desperate to get home.. Its kinda dangerous.."


If you're a bad driver, yes. But not for those of us who *should* be driving. I've seen some pretty crazy honda civic drivers, too. Doesn't make it better.

Quote: "Jeku - can you answer me this (not meant in a rude way, a genuine question).. Would you rather be hit by a 4x4 doing 30 or a "economy car" (like a Rover 600, Ford Modeo, BMW 3xx, etc) doing 30?"


I would rather be hit with an economy car, of course. But I would rather be IN a 4x4 in an accident than an economy car*. It's just common sense. If you were in a high-speed accident involving 15 car pileups would you rather be on a motorcycle or a semi truck? Be honest.

* Funny thing-- I drive an economy car, a Mazda 3. It has a rollcage which makes it safer than most other economy cars

Quote: "In Canada you've got tons of space (I know - our hire car was huuuuuge ) - but in the UK all these people picking children up in 4x4s do cause traffic jams and look ridicuous. I used to see it every day."


Hehehe Yeah, when I was in the UK some of those little towns had NARROW roads. What's interesting though is the reasoning--- most of the houses and buildings were built before cars were invented. They can't just move those old structures. Although what about horse and buggy traffic jams?


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Lost in Thought
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Posted: 2nd Aug 2005 06:06
Quote: "I pay a lot in insurance, with no accidents on my record. And then, when a deer hit the side of my car on the freeway, my car was declared a total loss. I spent about $16k on the car before tax and everything only a year ago. I got less than $8k from my company. Some bs excuse about the car having too high miles. They deducted $900 because I averaged 20k miles that year."


That's what Gap Insurance is for. I have had 2 vehicles declared a total losses and the car insurance paid what they were worth based on all conditions (mileage and etc as you mentioned), but the Gap Insurance paid the rest up to what was owed on them. I shall also have to mention that I wasn't driving either car and do not have any accidents on my record. My other truck got hit by a deer, but I fixed it all myself cheaper than I could pay the insurance deductible. Hardly no insurrance will compensate you on things such as new tires put on a car though as it had new tires when you bought it and are required to keep them up for your cars worth. And the higher the miles are on your car deducts greatly from its value especially depending on its age. If you put too many miles on it, too soon, then you are driving it too much and wearing it out faster so it's value goes down faster.

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